THE HOUSE

From the Coebergh House to the Museum Today

Domestic Culture in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Starting in 1662, the pharmacist Adam Coebergh built the house at Hühnermarkt, where he established the Eagle Pharmacy. After Andreas Monheim acquired the building in 1783, he had it remodeled three years later by the architect Jakob Couven. After the Second World War, in 1951, the City of Aachen purchased the house from the Quadflieg family. In 1958, the Couven Museum was opened here.

THE COLLECTION

Music Room

In the 19th century, music was part of the educational canon of the middle classes, alongside a humanist education, proficiency in several languages, and knowledge of literature, art, and theatre.

Inner Courtyard

The courtyard connects the main building and the rear building. The fountain on the firewall adjoining the neighboring house has a marble surround dating from the late 18th century. Three crescents can be seen on the basin — the coat of arms of the Monheim family.

Courtyard Room

The rooms of the Couven Museum are furnished with pieces ranging from the Rococo period through the Napoleonic Empire style to the Biedermeier era. The Courtyard Room is largely designed in the Rococo style, as reflected, for example, in the fireplace with its lively ornamentation.

The Tiled Rooms

Dutch ceramic tiles

Biedermeier

Simplicity and functionality

Invocation

Who knows this painting?

Like no other artist of his era, Johann Baptist Joseph Bastiné (1783–1844) shaped the image of Aachen’s Biedermeier period through his portraits of the city’s elites. A major work by the painter, long thought to be lost, was the life-size group portrait “The Blees Family” from 1828, measuring 1.48 x 2.40 metres, which shows the cloth manufacturer Richard Jakob Blees and his wife Anna Maria, née Bienbar, surrounded by their 14 (!) children. Recently, letters have surfaced proving that after the death of the last known owner, Berthold Theodor Thon (d. 1940 in Potsdam), the painting returned to the Rhineland branch of the family. Around 1970, it was in the possession of Eva-Maria Lang, née Geißeler (*1905), a great-great-granddaughter of Blees living in Neuss-Weckhoven, and wife of Dr. med. Klaus Lang. At the suggestion of the art historian Dr. Wolfgang Cortjaens (German Historical Museum, Berlin), who is currently working on a catalogue raisonné of the painter’s works, the Couven Museum is publishing this unusual search notice and is grateful for any clue that may lead to the rediscovery of the painting. All information received will be treated in strict confidence. Of course, information about any other surviving works by Bastiné in private ownership is also very welcome!
Please send any information to the following email address: info@couven-museum.de

MUSEUMSSHOP

In our museum shop, you can purchase museum guides from various years
as well as catalogues for the current exhibitions.
Please feel free to ask our ticket desk staff!

Museum Guide (1986)

3.10 euros
Museums of the City of Aachen, 1986. 4th edition, partly color illustrations, 82 pages

The museum’s former director, Ernst Günther Grimme, provides an introduction to Johann Joseph Couven and “Aachen Rococo,” describes the furnishings of the rooms, and devotes a separate chapter to the many clocks in the Couven Museum (1st edition 1971).

Museum Guide (2010)

7 euros
German Art Publishing House, Berlin / Munich; edited by Dagmar Preising and Ulrich Schäfer, 2010. Color illustrations, 78 pages

A lively tour through the house’s “period rooms,” presenting ensembles of furniture, fireplaces, paintings, porcelain, and silver; available in German, English, French, and Dutch.

This publication was made possible by the Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation and the Rhineland Regional Association.

Rental

Festive Ambience

The Couven Museum can be rented for weddings and other celebrations

All information on rentals is available by telephone at +49 241 432-4999.

Couples who wish to marry in a historic setting can say “I do” in the ceremonial hall of the Couven Museum. You can contact the registry office at +49 241 432-3409.

LOCATIONS-AACHEN.DE

More about the museum

SUPPORT THE MUSEUM

The Couven Museum offers many ways to get involved

We welcome your interest, your support, and, of course, your financial contributions. There is also the opportunity to become a member of the Museumsverein Aachen.

Tel.: +49 241 432 4956 (Mon – Fri 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.)
info@couven-museum.de

Donation accounts
Museumsverein Aachen
Sparkasse Aachen
IBAN DE30 3905 0000 0006 0055 08
Deutsche Bank
IBAN DE39 3907 0020 0151 5741 00

MORE ABOUT THE MUSEUM ASSOCIATION

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

Numerous sponsors support the Couven Museum

The museum guide published in 2010 was funded by the Peter & Irene Ludwig Foundation and the Rhineland Regional Association.

The Museumsverein supported the acquisition of the painting “The Family of Chancellery Councillor Janssen” by Clemens Bewer from 1843. The Museumsverein and Sparkasse Aachen financed the acquisition of an interior painting by Hans Schaffrath from the 1930s, depicting a room of the old Couven Museum on Seilgraben, which was destroyed during the war.

The Rhineland Regional Association supported the exhibitions “The Disenchantment of the West. Coffee and Tea Conquer Europe” (2010/11) and “The Christ Child in a Glass Shrine. On the Magic of Baroque Convent Crafts” (2011/12). Lindt supported the exhibition “Sweet Temptation. From Cocoa to Chocolate” (2009), Stawag supported the exhibition “Beautifully Warm. The Culture of Heating between the Renaissance and the Imperial Era” (2009/10), and Babor supported the exhibition “La Beauté. On the History of Cosmetics” (2011). The Peter & Irene Ludwig Foundation funded the catalogue for the exhibition “Inner Life. Wolfgang Nestler – An Art Project.”